US2554020A - Barbed-wire fence builder - Google Patents

Description

May 22, 1951 w. s. FRITZ BARBED WIRE FENCE BUILDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 26, 1949 INVENTOR. \MLLIAM 5. FRITZ May 22, 1951 w. s. FRITZ BARBED WIRE FENCE BUILDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 26, 1949 INVENTOR. \MLLIAM 5. FRITZ ATT'UEWEY Patented May 22, i951 UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE William SaFritz, Morrisville, Pa., assignorof'onehalf 150 Sophie Dabrowski, Long" Island City,

Application March26, 1949, .SerialNm. 83.569

4' Claims.- I

The subject of this invention is a novel and valuable appliance for stringingibarbed' wire and the like from post to post in building afence.

The aim of the invention is'to provide a simple and inexpensive appliance, which is easily portable by hand, yetwhich is rugged in construction and conveniently and expeditiously employable in performing the usually most difficult and sometimes hazardous work of stringing barbed wire with the tautness-required.

More specifically, the: aim of the present invention is to provide a simplified and improved appliance, characterized by the inclusion of a yoke or tongs structure the two post engaging jaws of which are interpivoted, and in association therewith a means, as one including a manually turnable screw, for fitting and clamping said jaws to the post; the foregoing in combination with an auxiliarystructure offset and pivotally mounted, preferably by a pintle-including mounting means, on one of said jaws adjacent to its outer end, said auxiliary structure carrying the means for tautening the wire and having the axis of said pintle or the like substantially at right angles to the planes of grip of said jaws on those opposite sides of the post the general places of extension of which would, in the case of a post of fair regular rectangular cross-section, be substantially perpendicular to the direction of extension of the wire being applied.

Also included in the new combination and carried by said auxiliary structure, is a slide, this movable along a line substantially parallel to the direction of extension of the pivotal axis relative to which the auxiliary structure is mounted on the tongs structure; said auxiliary structure being further provided with a manually turnable screw means for advancing the slide in wire tautening direction, and said'slide carrying in a conveniently accessible locationv a gripper including two relatively adjustable parts the movable one of which is preferably a cam latch. Such gripper is for seizing a portion of the Wire not yet but shortly to be stapled to the post, this wire seizure being eifected at a point conveniently ahead of the intended placement of such stapling. As will later become apparent, the mounting of the auxiliary structure on the tongs structure allows perfect functioning of the new device where the post is of exceedingly irregular contour at various points along its length and so of varying cross-section, as in the case of post constituted by a tree branch stripped of outgrowths' and barked; and the mounting of ',the

gripper relative to the last-named screw is such that for. slight post-surface irregularities there is ample play for properlytauteninga wire" and also for placing a portion of the wire aheadof itspoint ofseiz'ureby the gripper properly against the portion of the length of the post to which the wire-isto be stapled;

For further comprehension of the invention, andlof." the objects. and" advantages thereof, reference will behad .to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novelfeatur'es of the invention are. more, particularly set'forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material partof this disclosure:

Fig. 1 is'a view showing, partially'in' perspective and partially in transverse section, a fence post, and further showing, in perspective, a now favo'red' embodiment. of the appliance of the invention temporarily; applied to said postfor" use to tauten' a'barbed' wire priorto attachment of the latter to the post by'meansof one or more staples. or thelike;

Fig? 2 Ba top" planview of'said appliance; detached; 'with'a sleeve element thereof shown'par tially broken away and partially in section.

Fig. 3 s'ideelevationall'y showsthe parts of Fig. 2, with the post' indicated in" dot and dash lines.

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view' of a screw barrel carrying at itstop'saidsleeve element;

Fig.5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail view, this showing said barrel inlongitudinal section, at avertic'al diametra'l plane with the-parts arranged'as in Figs: 1-3;

Fig. 6 is a transversevertical section taken on the line'E -6- of Fig. 5.

Fig: 7 is an elevational View showing the appliance applied" as in Figs. 1 and 3; looking in the directionof the arrow 1 of Fig. 1.

Referring'to the-drawings more in detail, and assuming that the post shown, this designated I ii", is thBDOStf to which a'strand of wire I I, having I barbs ,H spaced therealong, isto be secured.

following an extremetautening of said wire from its previous-point of anchorage as along a fence line, thealready mentioned tongs structure, this as'a whole marked 12, is illustrated in its temporary securement tosaid post.

Said tongs structure incorporates a pair of jaws I4 and E5, interpivoted as'at IS. The jaw 14' has a line of serrations l4. and" a terminal prong N and, similarly, the jaw 15 has a line of serrations l5 and a terminalprong IS. The arm I4 has a slot 14 and, with the arm l5 having an appropriately placed slot |5, a screw I1 is extended through said slots. The headed end of the screw ll carries a washer l8, and the threaded end of said screw, beyond the jaw l5, carries a wing nut l9. Thus, the tongs structure I2 may be securely clamped to any post regardless of its cross-section at the level of application of said tongs structure, as shown most clearly perhaps in Fig. 1; or in some cases, as when the post is of irregular contour, by also causing one or both of the prongs 14 and l to dig into the post.

As here shown, the prong [5 is integral with an offset rod or stud 2H constituting a pintle member of the hereinabove referred to pintletype hinge mount, this stud reciprocable to some degree relative to the already mentioned sleeve element 22.

Said sleeve element 22 is an integral portion of an auxiliary structure 23, the main member of which is a barrel 24 having a long bot' tom slot 24 The already mentioned slide, this designated 25, seated in the barrel 24, has a dependent blade 26. This blade is twice stepped, with its upper part of smaller thickness being shaped to be guided in the slot 2G but with rather considerable lateral play in one direction, that is, away from the post if) as indicated in Fig. 6. Below its said upper part, the blade 26 is thickened so that the lower terminus of such thickening will provide an undercut shoulder 27. Below this shoulder, the blade 26 is downwardly continued as a bottom plate 28. Said shoulder 21, together with a rotatable member 29, which desirably has a knurled edge as shown, constitute the already mentioned gripper. The member 29 is pivoted at 30 on the plate 28 and carries a depending handle 3|, operable in a way which should now be clear for gripping the wire H to be tautened, when the handle 3| is swung in a clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 3.

The slide 25 is internally threaded for meshing with the thread of a main screw 32 in the barrel 24, and so constitutes a nut traveler relative to said screw. The screw 32 has, on its end adjacent to the outer end of the barrel 24, a cylindrically enlarged end 32. end of the barrel 24 and engaging the same and also engaging a collar 32 on the screw, all as shown most clearly in Fig. 5, is an externally flanged sleeve plug 33; said plug being suitably anchored as by two screws 34. Extended beyond the collar 32' is a lug 32 which enters the forked upper end of a handle 35 coupled to the screw 32 at said lug 32 by a pivot pin 36.

The operation of the device is as follows:

With the tongs structure l2 secured to a post, as the post [0, as shown, or secured to such post so that one or both of the prongs I4 and l5 are dug into the post in the case of such irregularly contoured posts as have already been mentioned, and with such securement of the tongs structure 12 to said post made fast by turning up the wing nut I9 to the required extent, the strand of wire i i is manually stretched, with said wire extended so that it lies between the shoulder 27 and the rockable member 29, with the handle 3! of the latter vertically dependent. Before this last step is performed, the handle 35 is turned in the proper direction to rotate the screw to send the slide 25 Well back toward the plug 33. With the parts thus arranged, the handle 3| of the member 29 is swung in a clockwise direction in Fig. 3 until a tight grip is obtained at the gripper on the wire ll. Next the screw handle 35 is turned in a direction opposite to that last referred to in connection with Seated in said said handle, thereby causing the slide 25 to travel toward the post [0, thus tautening the wire for securing the part of the wire lying across the post to the latter by one or more staples in a familiar way. Then, on loosening the gripper, and also loosening the wing nut [9, the appliance may be detached from the post, and replaced at a difierent height location thereon or at a selected level on another post.

The arrow 31 of Fig. 7 indicates an amplitude of swingability of the blade 26 relative to the axis of the screw 32, even with the parts arranged as shown in the drawings, this for a purpose which has already been explained. For handling an extremely irregular post of a kind which also has already been referred to, said slide 25 may be given a swing of even greater amplitude such as that indicated by the arrow 38 of Fig. 7, and in some cases accompanied by a bodily movement of the barrel 24 and screw 32 about the axis of the rod or pintle element 20.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to the precise construction herein disclosed and the right is reserved to all changes and modifications coming within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An appliance for the purpose stated, comprising a variable-jaw yoke in the form of a tongs structure having a plurality of interpivoted jaws, screw means for relatively moving said jaws to clamp said yoke to a post, a wire-tautening sub-structure, a pintle-including means for hingedly connecting said sub-structure to said yoke, said sub-structure including a casing carrying an elongate guiding means, a slide guided by the means last named, a wire gripper carried by said slide, and screw means for moving the slide and supported by said sub-structure and restrained against endwise movement relative thereto, the axis of said pintle being onset from and substantially parallel to the axis of the screw of the last-named screw means, said slide guiding means and said slide being relatively so shaped that the slide mayrock laterally of the direction of elongation of said guide means, said yoke including two jaws having longitudinally extended portions for embracing the opposite sides of a post, one at least of said portions carrying serrations, said jaws each carrying near its free end a prong, said prongs facing each other, said pintle being angularly offset from one of said jaws, an end portion of said pintle integrally carrying one of said prongs.

2. An appliance for the purpose stated, comprising a variable-jaw yoke in the form of a tongs structure having a plurality of interpivoted jaws, screw means for relatively moving said jaws to clamp said yoke to a post, a wire-tautening sub-structure, a pintle-including means for hingedly connecting said sub-structure to said yoke, said sub-structure including a casing carrying an elongate guiding means, a slide guided by the means last named, a wire gripper carried by said slide, and screw means for moving the slide and supported by said sub-structure and restrained against endwise movement relative thereto, the axis of said pintle being offset from and substantially parallel to the axis of the screw of the last-named screw means, said slide guiding means and said slide being relatively so shaped that the slide may rock laterally of the direction of elongation of said guide means,

' said sub-structure having a sleeve portion, and

said pintle being shaped so as to be endwisely insertable into and withdrawable from such sleeve, for at will merely slippingly coupling and; r

a end projected beyond the face of the said other uncoupling said yoke and said sub-structure.

3. A wire stretching attachment comprising a yoke having a pair of interpivoted jaws for engaging diametrically opposite sides of a fence post to which a stretched length of wire is to be secured, means for clamping the yoke to the fence post, an inwardly directed prong integrally formed on the free end of one of said jaws, I a wire gripper including an elongated barrel for releasable attachment to the free end of the: other of said jaws, a stud secured to the free en j of the said other jaw with its length extended parallel to the face of the fence post to which the Wire is to be secured, said stud having oinje" end projected beyond the face of the said other jaw facing away from the fence post, and means on said barrel releasably rotatably mounting said wire gripper on the projected one end of sai fd stud, said stud having its other end projec d beyond the face of said other jaw facing e' fence post forming an inwardly directed pr on the free end of the said other jaw.

4. A wire stretching attachment comprisinga yoke having a pair of interpivoted jaws for-{fillgaging diametrically opposite sides of a fence post to which a stretched length of wire is"-tobe secured, means for clamping the yoke tofgthe fence post, an inwardly directed prong integg formed on the free end of one of said jaws, a wi re leasable attachment to the free end of the other e of said jaws, a stud secured to the free end of the said other jaw with its length extended parallel to the face of the fence post to which the wire is to be secured, said stud having one jaw facing away from the fence post, and means on said barrel releasably rotatably mounting said wire gripper on the projected one end of said stud, said stud having. its other end projected diameter of said stud to be slipped onto the said one end of said stud. WILLIAM S. FRITZ.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the 'i file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 140,427 Myers July 1, 1873 1,159,906 Dewees Nov. 9, 1915 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country 1 Date 87,609 Switzerland Jan. 3, 1921

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